Huntersland, Middleburgh

Today's focus is on Huntersland, Middleburgh on the western town line in Schoharie County. It adjoins Huntersland, Berne, which is on West Mountain.

• First a couple of photos from Susan Richtmyer. The upper photo is Marriman Scutt of Huntersland, Middleburgh. He was born about 1828 and died after 1880.
  
• The lower photo is Daniel Barkman (1803-1886) of Huntersland, Middleburgh.

• I wrote Henry Z Jones an email forwarding Susan's photo of his ancestor Daniel Barkman. Hank is the author of a book on his Middleburgh ancestors including Barkman, Hillman, Sweet, Dibble and Crippen. Here is his reply: Many thanks! Susan had just forwarded it to me this morning, but I do appreciate yours also - a welcome double-dose of Daniel Barkman.
  I had seen this gentleman before in an un-labelled photo in Isaac Hillman's photo album from 1877: as I noted on page 310 of my "A Few More Left: The Story of Isaac Hillman", I had wrongly thought it was my great great grandfather Noah Dibble of Breakabeen; now it's finally been straightened out just who he was - Daniel Barkman. What a great face!
• Next a follow up on the search for Terry Effner supposedly buried in "West Hill Cemetery" from Anne LaMont: Steve checked the cemetery records at the Middleburgh Library and found them in the Middleburgh Cemetery. Case solved.
• I should note that Steve and Anne LaMont are the unofficial historians for Huntersland.
  
• Also from Anne: The Middleburgh Library has records of the Middleburgh and Huntersland Methodist churches and I have some records of the Huntersland Methodist Church here. There are hundreds of pages, therefore too extensive to copy.
• From Julie Mooney of Menlo Park, California: I was researching George Heligis ( this is the spelling used from circa 1860 in California) B: 1835 approx - in New York. And his son, Frank Jesse Heligis born in New York in 1858. I think this is a fit [with George Helligas b. ca, 1832 on Bradt Hollow Road, Huntersland, Berne, son of Jesse and Eunice Helligas]. And now, I am trying to find a marriage record of George, married approx 1856 to a Maria ( O'Hara, I suspect) somewhere in your area. She was from Ireland and I am sure they were married in a local church. George is a seaman on a ship in San Francisco in the 1860 census and his daughter Anna Heligis was born there in 1861 or 1864. San Francisco records are very sketchy due to the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. They also had two more sons George and John who died in an epidemic in 1868. So I think her father would be listed as John on any marriage record…or Francis…and I am sure she was catholic.

• If George Heligas was married in Berne it was probably at the West Mountain Methodist Episcopal Church which existed from about the early 19th C. to the early 20th C. I would like to find who, if anyone, has the records of the church. See the Berne Historical Project site for the history of the church.
  
• I wrote Anne Lamont and asked if she had any information on inquiry on George Heligas. Here is her reply: The only Heligas in the Middleburgh Methodist Church as follows:

• - Married Sept. 29, 1924
  Hillijas, Raymond - Altamont - age 24 Born in Middleburgh Farmer
  Slater, Gertrude - Middleburgh - age 18 - Born in Fultonham
  Parents: William and Anna Castle Hillijas
  Ellsworth and Elvina Schrom Slater
  - There are no Heligas in the Huntersland records.
  - Middleburgh records start in August 1856 and Huntersland records start in 1872-1873
  - I do not have any Heligas in my Huntersland Genealogy records, nor the Christian Church.
  - The first paper in Middleburgh was started in 1871, so there would not be any items. The only other paper that may have had any notice of marriages would have been Schoharie. I don't know when they started, buy they are earlier than Middleburgh.